The Day In Edinburgh

What a big day we had in Edinburgh. I have to say it is one of my favorite cities, top 5. It is absolutely gorgeous and very gothic feeling. Having been here before, we wanted to do some new things so we took the boys to this science museum we'd been told about. It's built in some old castle remains so you go down into the museum feeling like you're underground. They have an earthquake simulator and a real iceberg in the middle of the museum. There were several films to watch and we had almost the entire place to ourselves. It was very hands on and interactive and the boys LOVED it. Jeff and I weren't quite as impressed but it was a fun couple of hours.

Right next to the museum is an inactive volcano. We decided we wanted to climb it. Well, easier said than done as it turned out to be much steeper than it looked from below. The kids scrambled right up the hill but pushing the stroller up with shoes having little to no traction was not possible so we took turns going up for the view. The view to the water was gorgeous and we had a really graet view of Holyrood Palace which is the Queen's residence when she's in Edinburgh.

After the hiking, mom and dad wanted to do a little shopping on the royal mile, so we headed into the town and walked the street up to the castle. Along the way we did a little sightseeing, John Knox's house and where he's buried. Connor and I tried to remember all the little stories we had heard on our ghost walk tour during our first visit. We did poorly only recounting that someone important was hung here or something happened here but we can't remember what. We went by the Elephant House again where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter but it was so crowded we opted to head around the corner to the Starbucks. Colton really wante to taste. That's my boy!

When we got back to our townhome, we took a walk after dinner exploring the neighborhood. We were a block away from the childhood home of Robert Lewis Stevenson and the park he played as a boy. They say the island in the middle of the park across from his home was his inspiration to write Treasure Island.